This invention relates to an liquid jet apparatus which includes a liquid jet head, such as a recording head for an ink jet type recording apparatus, an electrode member ejection head for an electrode forming apparatus, an organic substance jet head for a bio chip manufacture apparatus, etc., and includes a liquid collection unit adapted to receive liquid droplets jetted when a flushing drive signal is supplied to this liquid jet head, the ink collection unit being placed on a movement path of the liquid jet head.
For example, a serial printing type ink jet recording apparatus, which is one kind of the liquid jet apparatus, includes a liquid jet head (hereinafter, referred as xe2x80x9cink jet type recording headxe2x80x9d), which is mounted on a carriage and scans in a main scanning direction which is a width direction of a target (hereinafter, referred as xe2x80x9crecording paperxe2x80x9d), and a paper feed unit for conveying recording paper in a secondary scanning direction, which is perpendicular to the main scanning direction of the recording head. Liquid (hereinafter, referred as xe2x80x9cink dropletsxe2x80x9d) are jetted from the recording head according to print data to thereby perform printing on the recording paper.
Such an ink jet type recording head is adapted to perform printing by jetting ink, which is pressurized in a pressure generating chamber, onto printing paper from nozzle orifices as ink droplets, and thus has a problem that a printing failure occurs owing to increase in ink viscosity and solidification of ink, which are caused by evaporation of ink solvent from the nozzle orifices, and to adhesion of dust to and entrainment of bubbles into ink. Thus, such a type of a recording apparatus includes a capping unit for sealing the nozzle orifices of the recording head during non-printing time, and also has a wiping member for wiping and cleaning a nozzle formation face as occasion arises.
The capping unit has not only the function of serving as a cover for preventing ink in the nozzle orifices of the recording head from being dried during printing is stopped, but also the function of receiving, when clogging of the nozzle orifices occurs, a negative pressure from a suction pump and then sucking and discharging ink from the nozzle orifices to thereby eliminate problems in that clogging of the nozzle orifices is caused owing to the solidification of ink, and that an ink jet failure is caused by entrainment of bubbles into ink passage.
A process of forcibly sucking and discharging ink so as to eliminate the problems of the clogging of the recording head and the state, in which the entrainment of the bubbles into the ink passage is caused, is referred to as a cleaning operation. This operation is performed, for instance, in the cases that printing is resumed after the long stop of the recording apparatus, and that when a user is aware of the deterioration in picture quality, the user operates, for example, a cleaning switch. Further, upon completion of sucking and discharging ink from the recording head, an operation of wiping the nozzle formation face of the recording head with the wiping member constituted by an elastic plate, such as a rubber plate, is performed.
The recording apparatus has the function of jetting ink droplets by applying a drive signal, which is irrelevant to printing, to the recording head. This is referred to as a flushing operation, and performed every predetermined cycle for the purpose of recovering an irregular meniscus caused in the vicinity of each of the nozzle orifices of the head and preventing an occurrence of clogging due to increase in viscosity of ink in a nozzle orifice, at which there are few opportunities to jet ink droplets during printing, by using the wiping member to thereby perform a wiping operation.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional ink jet type recording apparatus configured so that during a flushing operation, ink droplets are jetted toward a flushing region formed on a movement path of the recording head. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 designates a carriage. This carriage 1 is configured in such a way as to perform reciprocating motions in an axial direction through a timing belt driven by a carriage motor (not shown) by being guided by a guide shaft 4 supported by a left-hand side frame 2 and a right-hand side frame 3.
An ink jet type recording head 5 is mounted on the carriage 1 in such a manner as to be directed downwardly. A black ink cartridge 6 and a color ink cartridge 7, which are used for supplying ink to the recording head 5, are detachably mounted on an upper part thereof. A paper feed member 8 is disposed under the recording head 5 correspondingly to the main scanning direction, and configured so that sheets of recording paper 9 put on this paper feed member 8 can be sequentially transported by a paper feed unit (not shown) in a secondary scanning direction of the recording head 5, which is perpendicular to the main scanning direction thereof.
In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a capping unit placed on a non-printing region (including a home position), and configured so that when the recording head 5 moves to a place just thereabove, the capping unit 10 can upwardly move and seal the nozzle formation face of the recording head 5. Further, a suction pump 11 for giving a negative pressure to the internal space of the capping unit 10 is placed in close vicinity to the capping unit 10.
The capping unit 10 has not only the function of serving as a cover, which prevents ink in the nozzle orifices of the recording head 5 from being dried during printing is stopped, as above described, but also the function of serving as a cleaning unit that causes a negative pressure from the suction pump 11 to act upon the recording head 5 thereby to suck and discharge ink therefrom. A wiping member 12 constituted by an elastic plate, such as a rubber plate, is disposed in a printing region adjacent to the capping unit 10, and configured so that when the carriage 1 performs reciprocating motions between the home position and the capping unit 10, a wiping operation of wiping the nozzle formation face of the recording head 5.
On the other hand, a flushing region 13 is formed in the proximity of the other end opposed to the capping unit 10 through a central printing region. This flushing region 13 is constituted by an opening hole formed in such a way as to penetrate the paper feed member 8. A part of a waste liquid absorber 14 for absorbing and holding ink discharged from the capping unit 10 through the suction pump 11 is disposed on the internal bottom part of the opening hole constituting the flushing region 13.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned recording apparatus is configured so that flushing is periodically performed in order to prevent an occurrence of a jet failure due to increase in viscosity of ink in a disused nozzle. Especially, in the latest model of such a recording apparatus, tens of flushing shots are performed at each nozzle every several seconds on average. This flushing operation is performed in order to prevent an occurrence of color mixture after the cleaning operation, or at the time of commencing printing, or during printing, so that several to tens of thousands of shots may be periodically jetted from each nozzle.
In the case that an opening hole is formed in the paper feed member 8 as the flushing region 13, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the distance from the nozzle formation face of the recording head 5 to the waste liquid absorbing member 14 is several tens of millimeters. Therefore, a flying distance of an ink droplet inevitably increases. Thus, apart of ink droplets jetted from the nozzle orifice of the recording head become mist (that is, atomized ink) owing to air resistance before reaching the absorbing member 14. The mist floats, as indicated by arrows. Consequently, this causes a problem in that the inside and outside of the apparatus including recording paper are contaminated.
The ink droplets jetted from the nozzle orifices are charged to no small extent. Therefore, such ink droplets are affected by static electricity, which is generated in a drive part in the recording apparatus, and accelerated by airflows generated by an exhaust fan, which is placed in such a way as to suppress rise in the internal temperature of the apparatus, or caused by the movement of the carriage. Thus, there has yet been the unsolved problem in that the inside and outside of the apparatus including recording paper are contaminated. Such problems are more tangible, especially, in the recent recording apparatus adapted to control the quantity of each ink droplet in such a manner as to be small as much as possible in order to realize high picture quality.
The invention is accomplished in view of the aforementioned problems. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a liquid jet apparatus enabled to effectively catch and collect liquid mist, which becomes micro-droplets and floats, especially, when a flushing operation is performed, to thereby prevent the inside and outside of the apparatus from being contaminated.
In order to solve the aforesaid object, the invention is characterized by having the following arrangement.
(1) A liquid jet apparatus comprising:
a liquid jet head mounted on a carriage scanning in a direction of width of a target, for jetting liquid from nozzle orifices and applying the liquid to the target; and
an liquid collection unit disposed on a movement path of the liquid jet head, for receiving liquid jetted when a flushing drive signal is supplied to the liquid jet head, the liquid collection unit including,
a unit box including an opening portion for receiving liquid jetted at the time of a flushing operation of the liquid jet head,
a suction unit for sucking air contained in the unit box, and
a rotor portion for catching liquid, generated by the flushing operation and sucked into the unit box together with air, by a centrifugation action.
(2) The liquid jet apparatus according to (1), wherein
a guide tube communicating with the opening portion for receiving liquid in a direction of gravity is formed in the opening portion,
an eyehole is formed in a side wall of the guide tube, and
the sucked air is led to a position of a substantially center of rotation of the rotor portion.
(3) The liquid jet apparatus according to (2), wherein
a slope inclined to a direction of gravity is formed in the opening portion for receiving liquid, and
the guide tube is formed in a bottom portion of the slope in the direction of gravity so as to communicated therewith.
(4) The liquid jet apparatus according to (1), wherein the rotor portion includes:
a cylindrical body to be driven to rotate in a circumferential direction thereof; and
a plurality of flat fins arranged along an axial direction on an inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical body.
(5) The liquid jet apparatus according to (4), wherein a plurality of through holes are formed in the cylindrical body of the rotor portion, and a waste liquid collection housing is formed so as to surround a circumferential surface of the cylindrical body.
(6) The liquid jet apparatus according to (5), wherein
a guide tube communicating with the opening portion for receiving liquid in a direction of gravity is formed in the opening portion, and
an eyehole communicating with the guide tube is formed in a lower base part of the waste liquid collection housing so that collected waste liquid is enabled to be drained through the eyehole to the guide tube.
(7) The liquid jet apparatus according to (2), wherein a lower end part of the guide tube is opened to allow waste liquid, which is transmitted in the guide tube, to drop to waste liquid tank placed just under the guide tube.
(8) The liquid jet apparatus according to (1), wherein the rotor portion and the suction unit are driven by a single drive motor to rotate.
(9) The liquid jet apparatus according to (8), wherein the rotor portion and a suction fan constituting the suction unit are respectively attached to opposite end parts of a motor drive shaft across the drive motor so that an air passage, through which air flowing from the opening portion formed in the unit box is exhausted by the suction fan through the rotor portion, is formed.
(10) The liquid jet apparatus according to (8), wherein the suction fan of the suction unit is constituted by a centrifugal fan including a disk member to be driven by the drive motor, and a plurality of blade members radially arranged on a side surface of the disk member.
(11) The liquid jet apparatus according to (10), wherein
a cylindrical cover member is disposed to surround the centrifugal fan,
an air outlet, from which air sucked by the centrifugal fan is exhausted, is formed in a part of a circumferential surface of the cylindrical cover member, and
a filter member is placed at the air outlet.